31 JAN 1880 -- St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad -- The heaviest grading is done through this part of the county, about 130 teams are still piling up the dirt. Messrs. Beadles, Watson, Sloan, Chenoweth, Wiseman, Runyan, Wood, and others are crowded with boarders. There is more business in Little Walnut than any township in the county outside El Dorado and Augusta. The company is putting up good depot buildings all along the line. Lookout for the train about May 15. An excursion and a big boom are what we expect. The St. Louis & San Francisco Road is coming here to help build up this country...
22 JUL 1881 -- The St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad -- Beaumont - 14 miles east and 2 miles south, the summit of Flint Hills. Keighley - 8 miles east - first station to east.
30 Sep 1881 -- William Beadles owned a building at the corner of Main St. and Central Ave. in Leon, Kansas.
5 May 1882 -- William Beadles sold his building on the corner of Main St. and Central Ave. to Mr. Eaton for $700. We understand Mr. Eaton will put in a stock of millinery.
1886 -- The name of the Leon newspaper was The Leon Vindicator; editor C. R. Noes.
10 Sep 1897 -- William L. s died at his home two miles North of Leon, Friday evening. Rev. J. K. Pedrick preached the funeral at the house on Saturday and the remains were deposited in the Butts-Wakefield Cemetery, Spring Twp, Butler Co, Kansas west of Leon, Kansas.
21 Jun 1937 Mary Amelia (Fraley) s died on the old home place two miles north of Leon. Funeral services for the deceased were held Thursday afternoon at two o'clock, in the s' home, with services conducted by Rev. Ray H. Baker, pastor of the Leon Christian Church. Interment was made in the Butts-Wakefield Cemetery, Spring Twp, Butler Co, Kansas west of Leon, Kansas.
Source: The Leon Vindicator and the Leon News.
U.S. Highway 54 had reached the impassable point. About 100 motorists were abruptly stranded by a snow drift on Highway K-96 a mile south of Leon, Kansas. Everyone thought they "could beat the blizzard to Wichita."
Minister David Chinn, Mrs. Tom Bohon, Mrs. Paul Seward, Mrs. Louis Seward, Mrs. Virginia Matson and Grace Petitt got the Leon United Methodist church ready for 100 overnight guests. They set to the task of collecting food and blankets and other items required for the stranded travelers. Members of the Christian and Baptist Church congregations and others in the community came to the aid of the Methodists. Roy Davis opened the Hogue Grocery Store and Terry Beaumont opened the Leon Locker and Market where additional foods and other necessary commodities were available.
Leon mechanic Jean Matson (wrecker) with employee Alfred Gannon and church custodian Fred Burton (van) headed rescue efforts. They towed in 25 snowbound cars to the parking lot of the United Methodist Church.
About 72 stranded motorists sought refuge from the storm in the Leon United Methodist Church and area residences (six at Sears', one at Hadleys')until the storm subsided Monday (with an estimated total of twelve inches) and the roads cleared midmorning Tuesday.
Source: Nation, Carol. "Leon Rescues, Warms Up Cold Bunch of
Refugees." The Wichita Eagle-Beacon. Wednesday, February 24,
1971.
Source: "Rallied to the Aid of Travelers Stranded by Unexpected
Snow Storm." The Leon News. Thursday, February 25, 1971.
Replacing the town crier and the daily paper as a source of local information is this mid-street bulletin board located in the main intersection of Leon. In the background is the famous Prairie House restaurant, a favorite spot for miles around.
Although not the first Methodist Church to stand on this site, the new Leon United Methodist Church is a fitting successor to those that came before. The modern structure features the new low style and suburban architecture.
Everett Watkins, Bluestem High School industrial arts teacher, poses with his five English setters. The four young male pups seem eager to be photographed, while the old mother in the background wishes that the brood was sold and gone.
Always a favorite with the traditionally-minded is this classic Christian church of Leon, done in the style familiar to all native Kansans. These High-steeples, stained glass edifices, painted a gleaming white, were often the first tall structure to appear in a prairie settlement.
The decrepit, abandoned Leon railroad depot stands across the rails from a modern grain storage and shipping facility. All over Kansas and the Midwest, the emphasis has shifted from shipping passengers by train to shipping grain and freight.